Festive Downtime: A Guide to Holiday Maintenance Best Practices

Festive Downtime: A Guide to Holiday Maintenance Best Practices

The holiday season is upon us, bringing joy, celebration, and often, a change of the status quo for businesses. In some industries, the end of the year means a business boom, as retailers ramp up for Black Friday and the holiday shopping season, the entertainment industry gears up to serve those on vacation, and certain facility improvement businesses see a spike in demand as some organizations want to take advantage of the slow period for much-needed repairs. In other industries, the daily grind slows way down as staff takes time off or even comes to a screeching halt when businesses simply shut down for a week or two.

In all situations, it’s important to consider best practices when it comes to maintenance of facilities and critical equipment during this time of year.

Minimize Downtime For Peak Production

For those businesses that face high demand during the holiday season, it’s more critical than ever to minimize downtime. For instance, a shipping company that faces fleet breakdowns or equipment problems in their distribution houses may disappoint thousands of gift-givers and receivers this time of year.

Here are some best practices for businesses who face higher demand during the holidays:

• Plan Ahead. Before the holiday rush, be sure that major maintenance tasks and repairs are completed. Schedule routine preventive maintenance ahead of time. Be sure that safety and security is geared up for facilities that will see an increase of customer traffic during the holidays.

• Check Frequently. Many businesses that experience a holiday rush hire seasonal workers to help manage the demand. Be sure that some of that extra labor is devoted to ensuring that maintenance and facility issues are addressed. Greater demand means that assets, facilities and equipment are stressed; address small problems before they become big ones.

• Monitor Critical Assets. While this is a good piece of advice year-round, it is especially important during peak production. Prioritize a few pieces of key equipment that would cause the greatest disruption to your operations and take care that they stay up and running to avoid bottlenecks.

• Make Data-Driven Decisions. If you have a centralized, integrated repository of data, busy times are the best times to rely on data to make daily decisions, which will likely have a greater impact on production schedules and customer experience.

Maintenance Plans for Reduced Staff

If your organization is one that is not particularly busy during the end of the year but also does not completely shut down, you may simply be operating with a reduced staff as managers, operators and technicians take paid time off during this season.

This can present special challenges as production lines may need to keep running yet regular maintenance resources are not as available. To address these issues, you may want to:

• Prepare for the Slow Period. As things get buttoned up for the year, be sure that key maintenance tasks are completed before people head off for vacation. Ensuring that preventive maintenance is done on time during this period is particularly important.

• Prioritize Key Inspections. It’s understandable that some things will need to go by the wayside until your entire team returns from the holiday break. However, it will be important to prioritize those tasks that can have the greatest impact on productivity or be most likely to prevent downtime.

• Over-Communicate With Your Team. As different people take time off, it will be more important than ever for communications to be clear and complete. Be sure those who are taking time off leave enough information for those who are covering for them to keep key workflows moving smoothly.

• Implement Redundancy. If there are particular assets that you cannot afford to lose during this time, consider adding redundancy so that the smaller staff can keep production going even if an incident occurs.

• Have an Emergency Plan. Hopefully your organization already has a disaster recovery plan in place; this time of year is a good time to review it and understand what needs to happen should an emergency occur.

Take Advantage of Shut-Down Period

If your company actually closes its doors for a week or two during the holiday season, this can be an excellent time to schedule planned maintenance or facility repairs and improvements. All of those activities are much easier to accomplish without trying to manage customer orders, employee or client traffic, or other day-to-day responsibilities in the midst of them.

The key to taking advantage of this time is advanced planning. You’ll either need to use an outside vendor, contact the service department of equipment manufacturers, or arrange to have certain employees handle these planned downtime tasks. Here are some tips:

• Schedule Early. Just like you, other businesses may be planning repairs, improvements, or maintenance during this slow period. Schedule outside experts early to ensure you get a spot on their busy schedules.

• Accommodate Employee Requests. Although many people like taking time off during the holidays, others see this period of time as an opportunity to make some extra money. If you have particular employees who desire additional work, have them manage or perform these downtime maintenance activities.

• Prioritize Wisely. If you have the resources, this slow period can be a great time to implement key technologies that can generate significant returns in the new year. For example, incorporating sensors on key equipment can help your maintenance team predict when assets may fail. Installing and testing tools such as these can be beneficial during this period.

Conclusion

Whether your organization is extra busy, completely shut down, or somewhere in between, use this holiday season to stay on top of key maintenance and facilities tasks so that you’re ready for the opportunities and challenges that will inevitably come in 2024.